Illinois Budget 7.27.09

Tuesday

Jul 28, 2009 at 12:01 AMJul 28, 2009 at 8:17 PM

Illinois Budget 7.27.09

Here are the top Illinois stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at www.gatehousenewsservice.com. Please check www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/news in the evening for changes to story lineup, including breaking news.

If your paper has a story, digest item, opinion piece or standalone photo to share, please e-mail it to Illinois@gatehousemedia.com.

David Arkin: Readers like sharing their nature photographs.
http://ghnewsroom.com/article/readers-sharing-their-nature-photographs

TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT:

Operator of tollway oases faces foreclosure

BELVIDERE – The company that manages the Illinois Tollway oases is being foreclosed upon, but that won’t affect operations. In fact, the foreclosure proceedings will help the tollway recoup $1.3 million in back rent. By Thomas V. Bone of the Rockford Register Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x592698304/Operator-of-tollway-oases-faces-foreclosure

State Briefs. News from around the state.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x2141124115/State-Briefs-7-27-09

Peoria Police Department's Armadillo gets rave reviews

PEORIA – Whether it's in his role as a landlord, as a property manager or as a West Bluff resident, Dale Hanssen's feelings about the Peoria Police Department's Armadillo vehicle are the same: amused and grateful. The department's nuisance property surveillance vehicle, known as the Armadillo because of its hardened, reinforced exterior, has been deployed to trouble residences since July 2008. Hanssen has watched the Armadillo calm down a hot spot at one of his rental properties and also at an Orchard District property near his home. By Ryan Ori of the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x1641098310/Peoria-Police-Departments-Armadillo-gets-rave-reviews

Creve Coeur Village Board member gives up pay to help fund new flags

CREVE COEUR – When Jerry Daughters looks at the flags flying over the veterans memorial at the top of Creve Coeur hill, he sees more red than any other color. That's because the three flags at the memorial - where Illinois Route 29 winds into the north side of this Tazewell County town - aren't adequately sized or properly built to withstand the elements, in his opinion. Daughters, who was elected to the Village Board in April but has previously served on that body, has pledged to not take any more of his monthly stipend from the village and instead redirect that money into a village flag fund. By Matt Buedel of the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x695080845/Creve-Coeur-Village-Board-member-gives-up-pay-to-help-fund-new-flags

New DNR assistant director mending fences

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has been working to rebuild its relationships with its constituents since director Marc Miller took over late last winter. Now the agency is rebuilding its connections with the federal government by hiring John Rogner, an employee of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to be its new assistant director. By Chris Young of the State Journal-Register.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x2141123813/New-DNR-assistant-director-mending-fences

ILLINOIS BUSINESS
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois_business

Mobile-home park residents at mercy of bank

ROCKFORD – Bob Crosty has spent nearly two decades living at Gem Suburban Home Park, long enough to raise children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But the future of his neighborhood is suddenly in doubt with the foreclosure proceedings filed against Gem’s owners, Capital First Realty of Chicago. For the time being, not much has changed at Gem Suburban: Crosty and his neighbors still have their homes and pay their rent. But the law doesn’t give them much of a leg to stand on if new owners decide to end the community’s 45-year run. By Sean F. Driscoll of the Rockford Register Star. To localize: Are local mobile home parks facing similar situations?
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x2141123748/Mobile-home-park-residents-at-mercy-of-bank-to-stay-put

'Cash for clunkers' has shaky start

SPRINGFIELD – It might seem appropriate that a federal “cash for clunkers” program started with a crash. A dealer-registration Web site shut down just minutes after the launch Friday because of overwhelming demand from across the country in anticipation of a program that offers consumers up to a $4,500 credit to trade-in gas-guzzling vehicles. By Tim Landis of the State Journal-Register.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x695080745/Cash-for-clunkers-has-shaky-start

WITH:

Gas guzzlers getting owners thousands in trade

PEORIA – This 1991 Pontiac Trans Sport had seen better days. It had a cracked windshield, not all of the doors could be opened and an orange rope was holding down the hood. “It has recently been in a wreck,” said Korin Petersen, 20, of Canton. “Clearly, it’s not road worthy.” But Petersen cashed in Friday at Mike Miller’s Auto Park and received a $3,500 rebate for the gas guzzler thanks to the government’s “cash for clunkers” program. By Stephanie Gomes of the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/archive/x1641098217/Gas-guzzlers-getting-owners-thousands-in-trade

SPRINGFIELD – Water was once so simple. You opened the tap at your sink, filled your cup and your thirst was quenched. If you worried about the quality of your tap water, perhaps you invested in a filter. Visit any grocery store today and you’ll likely be overwhelmed by water options. Bottled water companies are promoting vitamin-enhanced water - but is it really better for you than what you can get from your faucet? By Shannon O’Brien of the State Journal-Register.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/features/x1641098250/Water-choices-are-not-so-clear

A different way to do health

ROCKFORD – One Sunday a month, a line leads into a partitioned basement area of Liberty Baptist Church where congregation members can focus on their physical health as much as their spiritual health. Men and women roll up their sleeves to have their blood pressure measured by church and medical volunteers. The activities are part of the Changing Hearts initiative of the Rockford Health Council, which celebrated its one-year anniversary this summer. Changing Hearts targets two issues: cardiovascular health and health disparities among minorities. By Melissa Westphal of the Rockford Register Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x695080778/A-different-way-to-do-health

Teenagers learn new skills in art mentor apprenticeship

PEORIA – When you walk into the darkroom, it takes awhile for your eyes to adjust before you make out several shadowy figures bending over four different basins, scrutinizing the papers floating in them. Then, using tongs, they move the papers from one basin of chemical solution to another, finally washing them in clear water before taking them to show their mentor, Ann Conver. Conver discusses various points of the pictures that have emerged and questions their methods, and then the students dash off to make the adjustments she has suggested. These teenagers, who have grown up with color film and color splashed all over onetime black-and-white newspapers, recently learned a new philosophy from their mentor that may remain with them for life. By Catharine Schaidle of the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x1543603659/Teenagers-learn-new-skills-in-art-mentor-apprenticeship

How to form a Bible study group

SPRINGFIELD – While the purpose of Bible study groups appears obvious — to encourage participation in a moderated study of God’s Word — local study groups demonstrate that collective study also involves fellowship and loving care. A combination of patience, time for socializing, and a shared interest in spiritual texts can go a long way toward making a group work. By Tamara Browning of the State Journal-Register.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x639777953/How-to-form-a-Bible-study-group

I am currently planted on the couch in a state of pretty impressive dehydration slurping down Gatorade like a crazy person and not moving, so it goes without saying that I'm watching dogs on ESPN. But I am not watching just any dogs. I am watching magic dogs from space doing tricks.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/features/x1641097807/Jeff-Vrabel-Entranced-by-incredible-dogs

Michelle Teheux: The way babies are meant to be born

I last gave birth 17 years ago this month and am not planning to repeat the experience in this lifetime. But after reading a recent news story about the trend of some mothers scheduling cesareans the same way they might make dinner reservations, I can only shake my head and think back to my own two births.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x1641098158/Michelle-Teheux-The-way-babies-are-meant-to-be-born

Terry Bibo: Medicare adds a twist in health care debate

If ever an issue could employ the reporter's full who-what-when-where-why toolkit, health care reform is it. There are a million questions. First among them: What really needs to be changed?
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x1543603618/Terry-Bibo-Medicare-adds-a-twist-in-health-care-debate

Chuck Sweeny: Dillard touts his work for Edgar in governor bid

The most admired governor in recent Illinois history surely is Jim Edgar. The moderate Republican held office from 1991 through 1998. We then had two horrible governors; no need to go into that again. Now we have Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat who spent 30 years as a political activist tilting at windmills. Quinn’s honest and a decent fellow, but he’s now in charge of the windmill factory and hasn’t quite figured out how to operate it. So, the candidate in 2010 who can convince people he knows how to run the governor’s office should have a decent shot at winning, right?
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x695080695/Chuck-Sweeny-Dillard-touts-his-work-for-Edgar-in-governor-bid

Editorial: Waiting for the day when it's not all about race

A president of the United States need not weigh in on every issue nor respond to every question. Yet there was Barack Obama last week, being questioned during a news conference about the July 16 arrest in Cambridge, Mass., of Harvard professor and friend Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and responding that the police had "acted stupidly," then following up with this: "What I think we know separate and apart from this incident is there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by police disproportionately. That's just a fact." An editorial from the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/editorials/x1641098163/Editorial-Waiting-for-the-day-when-its-not-all-about-race

Editorial: Time to eliminate lieutenant gov, merge financial offices

Illinois has been without a lieutenant governor for six months. Who noticed? Who cared? Not us. With all due respect to state Rep. Dave Winters, R-Shirland, who wants the job, we don’t think it should exist. An editorial from the Rockford Register Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x1543603621/Editorial-Time-to-eliminate-lieutenant-gov-merge-financial-offices

WITH THE ILLINI: In an attempt to build discipline within the roster, Illinois coach Ron Zook cut the team into units known as character teams. Zook wants character instead of characters. By John Supinie.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/sports/big_10/x639778346/With-the-Illini-Zook-relying-on-players-to-keep-each-other-in-line

BIG TEN MEDIA DAY: Ohio State was named as the favorite by the league poll conducted by the Big Ten at media day. Yet the league continues to fight a crumbling reputation. By John Supinie.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/sports/big_10/x1641098756/Ohio-State-picked-as-preseason-Big-Ten-favorite

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